The Lord works in mysterious ways. He allows Satan to cause David to sin by taking a census of the people (21:1). Even when Joab protests (21:3) David insists the census be taken. This angers God, because he wants David to rely on Him and not the size of his army. After the census, the prophet Gad comes to David and explains that the Lord is angry and wants David to chose among three punishments: three years of famine, three months of destruction by the enemy, or three days of severe plague by the angel of the Lord. David, realizing his sin, refuses to choose stating he will accept the punishment the Lord chooses.
The Lord sends His angel with a severe plague and 70,000 people die. Then the angel draws his sword and heads to Jerusalem to destroy the city, but God, in His mercy, stops the angel. David (21:16) sees the angel between heaven and earth with the sword drawn and falls on his face before God to beg for mercy. The angel instructs Gad to build an altar.
This is where the story takes a twist from punishment to grace. The place where the angel's hand is stayed is the threshing floor of Araunah. Araunah wants to give the property to David, but David insists on purchasing it at a fair price (21:24-25). Araunah sells the property to David, who then offers sacrifices to God, Who in turn has the angel sheath his sword. This establishes the ownership of this property to David and his estate.
In 22:1, David declares this site to be the place to build the Temple. He knows that he is not allowed to construct the Temple, but also knows that Solomon, his son, will be the next king and will build the Temple. So out of David's sin comes a great blessing to Israel. The Temple area is in the legal ownership of David and his descendants and is forever Israel's.
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